今日天文图片
土星环似乎消失了
(原标题: Saturn's Rings Appear to Disappear)
2025-04-29
浏览次数: 2
土星的耳朵在哪里？1610年，伽利略被认为是第一个看到土星环的人。在测试利珀希最近与人共同发明的望远镜时，伽利略并不知道它们是什么，所以称它们为“耳朵”。1612年，土星的耳朵神秘地消失了，谜团加深了。今天我们确切地知道发生了什么：从地球的角度来看，土星环变得太薄了，看不见。同样的戏剧每15年上演一次，因为土星和地球一样，经历了倾斜驱动的季节。这意味着，当土星绕太阳运行时，它的赤道和土星环可以明显地向太阳和内太阳系倾斜，使它们很容易被看到，但从其他轨道位置几乎看不见。这张来自巴西巴西利亚的特色照片展示了这一序列的现代版本：顶部环占主导地位的图像拍摄于2020年，而底部环模糊的图像拍摄于2025年早些时候。让土星环变得音乐剧化：像竖琴一样弹奏它们！
查看原文解释
Where are Saturn's ears? Galileo is credited, in 1610, as the first person to see Saturn's rings. Testing out Lipperhey's recently co-invented telescope, Galileo did not know what they were and so called them "ears". The mystery deepened in 1612, when Saturn's ears mysteriously disappeared. Today we know exactly what happened: from the perspective of the Earth, Saturn's rings had become too thin to see. The same drama plays out every 15 years because Saturn, like Earth, undergoes tilt-driven seasons. This means that as Saturn goes around the Sun, its equator and rings can tilt noticeably toward the Sun and inner Solar System, making them easily visible, but from other orbital locations will appear almost not at all. The featured picture from Brasilia, Brazil shows a modern version of this sequence: the top ring-dominated image was taken in 2020, while the bottom ring-obscure image taken earlier in 2025. Make Saturn's Rings Musical: Play them like a harp!
© Natan Fontes